RALEIGH, NC (AP) -- The signs for jobless North Carolina residents are improving as the May unemployment rate fell for the third straight month, this time to 10.3 percent.

The state Employment Security Commission said Friday the unemployment rate fell from 10.8 percent in April. The national unemployment rate fell to 9.7 percent in May from 9.9 percent the previous month.

The number of people working increased by nearly 15,000 and the number on the unemployment rolls decreased by almost 21,000 workers.

Another good sign in the North Carolina data is that manufacturers are pushing their employees to work longer hours. That increases the pressure for factories to speed hiring.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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